Letting go
by Mikiri's Revenge
Summary: Sometimes you need to let go and cry, and sometimes you need to let your inner child free.


Even though earlier that evening Allura had been composed enough to make a speech about her father's legacy living on through Voltron, by the time everyone had retreated to their bedrooms again, Allura was a mess. Her father, even his memory, was now gone and with it her last connection to Altea other than Coran. She had been brushing her hair when she had abruptly remembered an image that her father's memory had shown of him brushing her hair when she was small, and she put down her brush as the tears sprung to her eyes. A sob worked its way out of her mouth, the pent up emotions almost choking her. She crossed her arms on her vanity and placed her head on them as she sobbed.

She had lost track of time, her tears finally slowing when someone knocked at the door, she hastily wiped away her tears before responding, "Yes," her voice cracked slightly so she cleared her throat and started again, "Yes?"

The door opened revealing Coran, still dressed in his uniform. He stepped into the room, coming up to her chair and kneeling down, "Allura, you don't have to be strong for me. You lost your father for the first time you remember, it is alright to be upset."

Allura could feel the tears gathering in her eyes again, "But, Coran-"

He patted her hand and interrupted, "But nothing. Allura, child of my heart, you suffered a loss today and it was a loss that had to happen yes, but that doesn't mean you can't feel pain from it. The others are all in their quarters, you don't have to be strong for me."

Coran linked their hands together as Allura began crying once again. Her shoulders shook, her silent sobs returning as Coran moved so he was able to wrap her in a hug. His positioning was a little uncomfortable but what was his discomfort in the face of Allura's greif? Comparatively it was nothing. He held her and hummed an old Altean lullaby as Allura cried out her grief for her father, for her childhood, for all the lost in the war, and for her entire planet that had been destroyed while she was trapped safely away. Eventually her tears dried up and she hummed along with the lullaby, not quite ready to face the castle and the lonely idea of being possibly one of the last of her entire species.

"Do, do you think anyone survived?" She asked, her voice barely loud enough to hear.

"We can only hope, Allura. We can only hope that we can find them if they did." Coran replied keeping his voice soft and comforting.

A few minutes later, when she was well and truly ready she leaned back out of his arms. Coran smiled gently, "Are you ready then?"

Allura took a deep breath and gave a watery smile, "I am."

"Good," he let her go only to grab one of her hands, "now let's go see if any of the paladins are doing anything amusing. Their Earthling quirks are quite endearing, and think soon they'll be like yelmores, connected at the ears."

Allura giggled slightly and let Coran lead her out of her room and down to where the paladin quarters were. As they approached they noticed Shiro standing in the hallway wandering aimlessly, though Allura did note he wasn't wearing his shoes.

Coran took the initiative to engage Shiro, "Ah, Number One, what has you out here in the hallway?"

Shiro looked up slightly startled, "Ah, Coran, Allura, I just haven't been able to sleep and out here just feels a bit more open. I didn't want to go to the common room since last I knew, Keith and Lance were both there and they're either sleeping or arguing and I don't want to deal with either option, so, uh, hanging around in the hallway." Shiro shrugged some, rubbing the back of his neck with his human hand.

Coran look between Shiro and Allura before deciding to let them bond some, "Well then, I am going to go check on Numbers Three and Four. Maybe you can find some way to entertain yourselves." Coran waved as he headed off in the direction of the common room.

There was an awkward silence for a minute before Allura asked, "So, why are you not wearing your shoes? Is that considered safe?"

Shiro laughed equally awkwardly, "Well humans don't normally sleep in their shoes, and well, the floors are slick enough I was sliding down the hallway and it was, uh, fun." Shiro looked embarrassed at being caught acting like a child.

"Well," Allura started considering, "Back on Altea some of us kids used to slide around in our socks pretending we had the slipperies, much like you were apparently doing."

Shiro grinned and extended his human arm, "Well, want to act like children for a while? It could be fun."

Allura grinned back at him, "You know what, I think we shall. Stress relief is important after all."

Coran grinned from the surveillance room as he watched the two de facto leaders go sliding down the hallways in their socks giggling and whooping like children.


End file.
